Software & Systems Test Engineer

At Contoro Robotics, we're on a mission to solve labor challenges through advanced robotic solutions. Headquartered in Austin, TX, our fast-growing startup is transforming the supply chain industry with our flagship warehouse automation technology. Our team is made up of top-tier experts in robotics, AI, and logistics, working together to push the boundaries of automation.

We’re looking for talented and ambitious individuals to join us on this journey—helping shape the future of robotics while growing alongside a world-class team. If you're passionate about innovation, problem-solving, and making a real-world impact, we want to hear from you!

Job Summary

We are seeking a detail-oriented and hands-on Software & Systems Test Engineer to ensure the reliability, performance, and safety of our robotic systems in real-world environments. This role sits at the intersection of software, hardware, and operations, with a focus on validating integrated robotic systems across perception, planning, and control stacks. You will work closely with software engineers, machine learning engineers, and robot operators to design and execute test strategies that uncover issues early and enable rapid iteration. This includes both manual and automated testing of robotic behaviors, as well as building the infrastructure needed to scale testing as our systems are deployed in increasingly complex environments. This role is critical to delivering robust, production-ready robotic solutions by ensuring that system performance meets high standards for reliability and consistency.

Key Responsibilities

System Testing & Validation (Core Responsibility)

● Design, execute, and maintain test plans for end-to-end robotic systems, including

software, hardware, and ML-driven components

● Perform hands-on testing of robotic platforms in real-world and simulated environments

● Validate system behavior across a range of scenarios, edge cases, and failure modes

● Identify, reproduce, and document bugs with clear steps, logs, and supporting data

● Clearly define and document test workflows, procedures, and acceptance criteria to

ensure repeatability and consistency

Automation & Test Infrastructure

● Develop and maintain automated test frameworks for regression, integration, and

performance testing

● Build tools and scripts (primarily in Python) to streamline test execution, data collection,

and reporting

● Integrate tests into CI/CD pipelines to ensure continuous validation of system changes

● Improve test coverage across software modules and system-level behaviors

Hardware-Software Integration Testing

● Set up and maintain test benches for system, integration, and performance testing

● Validate interactions between perception systems, control software, and physical

hardware

● Troubleshoot issues spanning sensors, actuators, networking, and embedded systems

Data-Driven Debugging & Metrics Tracking

● Analyze logs, telemetry, and sensor data (e.g., images, video, system metrics) to

diagnose failures

● Design and maintain SQL-based databases or data stores for tracking test results,

system metrics, and performance trends

● Develop dashboards or reporting mechanisms to monitor system quality, regressions,

and reliability over time

● Collaborate with ML and robotics teams to investigate performance issues and edge cases

● Develop tooling to capture, replay, and analyze real-world scenarios

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Support

● Work closely with software, ML, and robotics engineers to define test requirements,

success criteria, and acceptance thresholds

● Communicate effectively with cross-functional teams to align on what defines “success”

for system performance and reliability

● Partner with operations and field teams to validate system performance in deployment

environments

● Provide actionable feedback to improve system robustness, usability, and safety

● Contribute fixes for smaller issues uncovered during testing, demonstrating a willingness

to learn and work within the broader engineering stack

Quality & Process Improvement

● Define and enforce testing standards, best practices, and documentation

● Continuously improve test methodologies, coverage, and efficiency

● Contribute to release readiness and quality metrics tracking

Skills & Requirements

● Strong software engineering fundamentals (Python required; experience with testing

frameworks preferred)

● Experience with C++ and Typescript/JavaScript

● Familiarity with ROS/ROS2 or similar robotics frameworks

● Experience designing and documenting test workflows and validation processes

● Experience creating and managing SQL databases for metrics tracking and analysis

● Experience in software testing, QA, or systems validation for complex systems

● Hands-on experience debugging issues across software and hardware boundaries

● Familiarity with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and version control (e.g., Git)

● Strong analytical skills with attention to detail and a structured approach to

problem-solving

● Ability to clearly document issues and communicate across technical and non-technical

teams

● Strong cross-functional communication skills, with the ability to align teams on

requirements and success criteria

● Comfortable working with real-world systems where behavior can be unpredictable or

noisy

● Willingness and ability to contribute small bug fixes and improvements within the

codebase

Education & Experience

● Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field

● Minimum 5 years of experience (internship, contract, part-time, or full-time) at a robotics

company

● 3+ years of experience in software testing, QA, or related roles

Physical Requirements

● Must be able to lift and move up to 45 pounds as part of working with robotic hardware

and test setups